Maria Jackson has just moved into a new house with her recently-divorced
father when she becomes aware of strange goings-on involving her
reclusive neighbour, journalist Sarah Jane Smith. But things get even
weirder when Maria's new friend, Kelsey, invites her on a tour of a
factory which produces the mysteriously addictive energy drink
Bubbleshock. There, Maria rescues a strange boy, and has nowhere to turn
but to Sarah Jane herself. Together, they must discover the connection
between Bubbleshock and an alien plan to conquer the Earth.

Production

Elisabeth Sladen originally played Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who
from The Time Warrior in 1973 to
The Hand Of Fear in 1976. Over
the course of three-and-a-half seasons, opposite both Jon Pertwee (the
Third Doctor) and Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor), the character became
recognised as one of the programme's archetypal companions, to the point
that Sladen was invited to return to Doctor Who and reprise her
role to help ease the transition between Baker and Fifth Doctor Peter
Davison in 1981. Sladen refused that offer, feeling that playing second
banana to the Doctor once again would represent a backward step in her
career. However, she subsequently agreed to take a starring turn in a
spin-off series, K·9 And Company, which was being created in
response to the public outcry over the departure of the popular robot
dog K·9 from Doctor Who in Warriors' Gate. Unfortunately,
K·9 And Company did not survive past its December 1981 pilot
episode, A Girl's Best Friend.

After a brief return to Doctor Who in 1983's twentieth-anniversary
special, The Five Doctors, Sladen
largely put her television career on hiatus in order to raise her family.
Nonetheless she lent her voice to several audio plays, portraying Sarah
Jane opposite Pertwee's Doctor in the BBC Radio broadcasts The
Paradise Of Death (1993) and The Ghosts Of N-Space (1996),
and later appearing in a number of Sarah Jane solo stories released by
Big Finish Productions from 2002. She could also be glimpsed in the 30th
anniversary special Dimensions In
Time, and recorded a direct-to-video appearance as Sarah Jane in
the Reeltime Pictures production Downtime.

Children's BBC approached Russell T Davies about
developing a Doctor Who spin-off featuring
the Doctor as a teenager

Then, in 2005, Doctor Who made its triumphant return to the
regular BBC programming schedules after a hiatus spanning more than a
decade and a half. Keen to reintroduce Doctor Who to a brand new
generation of viewers, showrunner Russell T Davies kept the 2005 season
substantially free of references to the past. However, with the relaunch
having proved a resounding success, he was keen that the 2006 season
should start to take careful advantage of the programme's robust
history. In particular, Davies was eager to bring back one of the
Doctor's former companions in an episode which would provide a greater
emotional context for the travels of his current companion, Rose Tyler.
Davies convinced an initially reluctant Sladen to return as Sarah Jane
and the resulting adventure, School
Reunion, proved tremendously popular with the Doctor Who
production team.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the enormous success of the Doctor Who
relaunch, Children's BBC had approached Davies about developing a spin-off
which would feature the Doctor as a teenager on Gallifrey. Davies felt
that this would go too far in defusing the enigma of the Doctor's past,
however, and around the end of 2005 recommended instead that a new series
be created to showcase Sarah Jane. This would mark a return to children's
television for Davies, who had originally gained notice with the
youth-oriented fantasy serials Dark Season and Century
Falls.

With CBBC confirming their interest in the project now called Sarah
Jane Investigates, Davies and his fellow Doctor Who executive
producer, Julie Gardner, took Sladen to lunch in January 2006 to discuss
the proposal. Amusingly, Sladen assumed that she was being invited to
appear in the adult-targetted Doctor Who spin-off series
Torchwood, which had been announced a few months earlier. As such,
she was very surprised by the offer to star in her own show, but
ultimately agreed to come aboard the project. It was planned that Sarah
Jane Investigates would launch with an hour-long special for the
Christmas 2006 season, followed by a full season of five stories, each
consisting of two half-hour episodes bridged by a cliffhanger, in the
latter part of 2007.

Bob Baker was developing an animated K·9 project, so
the character could only make a cameo appearance in the special

A key element of Sarah Jane Investigates would be the introduction
of several juvenile characters, towards whom Sarah Jane would act as a
mentor even as she found herself struggling to cope with the
responsibilities this entailed. Davies also hoped that K·9 would
feature significantly in the new programme. Davies had previously
considered a regular role for the robot dog when planning the Doctor
Who relaunch, and the character had become closely identified with
Sarah Jane ever since the ill-fated K·9 And Company, appearing
alongside her in School
Reunion. However, the rights to the character remained with his
creators, one of whom -- Bob Baker -- had long been developing an animated
K·9 project outside the auspices of the BBC, and was still pursuing
this project with Park Entertainment and Jetix Europe. Although Baker
agreed that K·9 could make a cameo appearance in Sarah Jane
Investigates in order to explain his whereabouts, the character could
not feature prominently in the narrative. In place of K·9, Davies
created a talking computer called Mr Smith which would be housed in Sarah
Jane's attic; Mr Smith was inspired by the biological computer TIM from
the 1970s science-fantasy series The Tomorrow People.

The scripting chores on the introductory episode of Sarah Jane
Investigates were shared between Davies and Gareth Roberts. Roberts
had written the interactive Doctor Who game Attack Of The
Graske and the prequel TARDISodes for the 2006 season; he was
also developing The Shakespeare
Code for transmission the following year. In addition, Roberts
had contributed to series such as Emmerdale, Brookside and
the revival of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased). Long before the new
series began, Roberts had become well-known to Doctor Who fans,
having published a plethora of tie-in novels beginning with The
Highest Science for the Doctor Who: The New Adventures range
in 1992. Most recently, Roberts had written the Ninth Doctor novel
Only Human for BBC Books, as well as the Tenth Doctor
“Quick Reads” release I Am A Dalek. Roberts had also
co-written two audio plays, The One Doctor and
Bang-Bang-A-Boom, for Big Finish Productions, in addition to
contributing comic strips to Doctor Who Magazine.

Roberts began working on the script in the summer of 2006, by which time
Davies had already roughed out a storyline and devised the main
characters, notably the young leads Maria Jackson and Luke (whom the alien
Bane referred to as the Seedling). Davies subsequently returned to later
drafts to provide further refinement. It was Roberts who developed
Maria's new friend, Kelsey Hooper, and consideration was then given to
retaining Kelsey beyond the special. At this stage, Maria's father was
called Kevin rather than Alan, and the Jacksons and Sarah Jane lived on
Hillview Road in South Croydon -- Sarah Jane's address as established in
dialogue from The Hand Of Fear --
instead of Bannerman Road.

Bubbleshock was named for a beverage called
“bubbleshake”, from Gareth Roberts' Doctor Who novel The Highest
Science

At an early stage, the Bane did not attack Sarah Jane's home directly, but
instead tried to smuggle an alien creature called the Gloor into her house
by hiding it in a delivery parcel. For the name of Bubbleshock, Roberts
drew on a beverage called “bubbleshake” which he had invented
for The Highest Science; Bubbleshock was originally more of a
high-end product which satirised the organic foods craze. As noted by
Sarah Jane in dialogue, the villainous Mrs Wormwood was named for a star
(or comet) described in the Bible's Book Of Revelation which was
prophesied to fall to Earth during the End Times and poison the world's
freshwater rivers and springs; the name “Wormwood”
traditionally connoted “bitterness”.

Over the summer, the new programme's title was amended to The Sarah
Jane Adventures. On August 1st, the first official word of the
project's existence appeared in the pages of the BBC's in-house magazine
Ariel. The production team started to come together, with Davies
joined by Gardner and Doctor Who producer Phil Collinson as
executive producers. Appointed to the producer's chair for the
introductory special was Susie Liggat, who had mostly worked as an
assistant director on shows including Casanova, Teachers and
Doctor Who (including Love &
Monsters and Army Of
Ghosts / Doomsday). Liggat had also been chosen to
temporarily replace Collinson as producer on Doctor Who for one
recording block during the 2007 season.

A key challenge for the special was finding the right mix of young actors
to play the pivotal roles of Maria, Kelsey and the Archetype (as the
Seedling had now been renamed). Cast as Maria Jackson was Yasmin Paige,
whose prior credits included episodes of Keen Eddie, Doctors
and The Last Detective, as well as a regular role in the CBBC
programme The Mysti Show. Coming to the series with a more unusual
background was Porsha Lawrence-Mavour. A finalist in the inaugural
children's edition of the reality competition Stars In Their Eyes
in 2002, Lawrence-Mavour was chosen to play Kelsey. Finally, Tommy Knight
won the role of Luke. Born Thomas Farrell, he had appeared in shows such
as The Bill, Doctors and Casualty, while also
working with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Apart from Sladen, several other adult actors would also feature regularly
in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Joseph Millson, playing Alan Jackson,
was a graduate of the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama and had
been a regular in Peak Practice while also recording appearances in
programmes such as EastEnders and Holby City, plus the James
Bond film Casino Royale. Alan's ex-wife Chrissie would be portrayed
by Juliet Cowan, whose credits included regular roles in This Life,
Family Affairs and The Bill. Heard but not seen as the voice
of Mr Smith would be Alexander Armstrong. Armstrong had gone to Cambridge
University to pursue music, but became interested in acting and comedy. In
the mid-Nineties, he formed a successful comedic partnership with Ben
Miller which led to a number of television appearances. Armstrong also had
roles in a variety of sitcoms, including Beast, tlc and
Life Begins, as well as dramas such as Marple.

On September 14th, the BBC officially announced that The Sarah Jane Adventures was about to enter
production

On September 14th, the BBC officially announced that The Sarah Jane
Adventures was about to enter production, with the special now set to
air in early January 2007. The director would be Colin Teague, who had
helmed the Torchwood episodes Ghost Machine and
Greeks Bearing Gifts during
the summer. As with Doctor Who and Torchwood, the
programme was based in Cardiff, with studio recording taking place at
Upper Boat studios near Pontypridd.

September 17th, the first day of production on The Sarah Jane
Adventures, was dedicated to the Bubbleshock advertisement, with
filming take place at the Aberdare Skate Board Park in Aberdare, followed
by the Cogan Leisure Centre and a pier in Penarth. Penarth was also the
venue for the new programme's key location: Bannerman Road, which was
actually Clinton Road. Many scenes set inside both the Smith and Jackson
residences were also recorded there, with the significant exception of
Sarah Jane's attic. The first recording on Clinton Road took place on the
18th, and saw Sladen, Paige and Lawrence-Mavour all going before the
cameras. The same day, Sarah Jane followed the bus carrying Maria and
Kelsey on Stanwell Road and Station Approach. In many sequences of Sarah
Jane driving her Nissan Figaro, a stunt double replaced Sladen; although
the series star had her license, she had driven so rarely in the years
since obtaining it that she now felt uncomfortable behind the wheel.

Work on Clinton Road continued through to September 22nd (with Tommy
Knight making his debut on the 20th), and resumed after the weekend from
the 25th to the 27th. The latter day also saw street scenes of the
zombified Bubbleshock drinkers taped on Windsor Road and Glebe Street.
Cast and crew returned to Cardiff on September 28th for the first of two
days at St William House, where the premises of LTSB Finance Division
masqueraded as Mrs Wormwood's offices. Also on the 28th, material
involving K·9 and the black hole was recorded at Upper Boat, with Mat
Irvine -- who had provided visual effects for Doctor Who during the
1970s -- supplying the original K·9 prop. The exterior of the
Bubbleshock factory was actually the British Telecom Data Centre at Elinia
House in Cardiff; filming there took place on the 30th.

Sarah Jane's attic was dressed with various items alluding
to her past, including photos of the Brigadier and Harry

As October dawned, production moved to Trident Park in Cardiff Bay, where
the former home of Nippon Electric Glass UK offered spaces suitable for
the Bubbleshock factory floor, data room, vat area, pipe room and various
corridors. Work there took place from the 3rd to the 6th and continued on
the 9th and 10th. The rest of the special was then filmed at Upper Boat,
starting with material in the Bubbleshock ladies' toilets and Maria's
bedroom on October 11th. The 12th and 13th marked the debut of the set for
Sarah Jane's attic, which was actually a modified version of the
Carrionites' lair from The Shakespeare
Code. This was dressed with various items alluding to Sarah Jane's
past -- including photographs of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (from Terror Of The Autons and The Daemons) and Harry Sullivan
(from The Sontaran Experiment).
Another star of classic Doctor Who joined the team on the 12th, as
John Leeson was present to provide the voice of K·9 from off
camera.

Now given the title Invasion Of The Bane and fronted by a theme
tune devised by Doctor Who's regular composer, Murray Gold, the
inaugural edition of The Sarah Jane Adventures premiered on New
Year's Day 2007. It garnered an impressive viewership just shy of 3
million; this would be the largest audience the programme would ever
attain, although it would never again be provided with such an
advantageous timeslot. With the fledgling spin-off already proving to be
a success, appetites were whetted for its first full season, now just a
few months away...